02/22/19 02/22/19 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, , this is democracy now! 8:00 p.m. today, thursday, february 21 from the land border with brazil will become plainly enough salute closed until further notice. it is better to prevent than regret, to take all of the measures and protection of our people. amy: venezuelan president nicolas maduro closes the border with brazil in an escalating standoff over whether to allow

u.s. backed so-called humanitarian aid to enter venezuela. u.s. state envoy elliott abrams is leading a a delegation to the colombian border t traveling by military aircraft. we'll go to caracas to speak with sociologist edgardo lander, who is part of the citizen's platform in defense of the constitution. then, the movie "green book" is a top oscar contender this weekend. it sparked renewed interest in the history of "the negro motorist green book" -- a travel guide that helped african americans safely navigate jim crow america. we will look at a remarkable new documentary that tells the true story. >> very bad d things happen to african-americans going down a dark, country road. there was a sense of apprehenension. you u could actually be lynched. >> the real story behind the book. >> it was a way to understand how you could get there safely.

amy: "the green book: guide to freedom" details the violence, the screw nation black travelers faced on the road as well as the pride and sense of community they felt in the safe spaces they created around the country in the form of restaurants, hotels, and vacation retreats. we will speak with the director, yoruba richen. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war andd peace report. i'm amy goodman. the north carolina state board of elections has thrown out the results of november's congressional race in the 9th district and ordered a new primary election after more evidence came to light of a republican effort to tamper with absentee ballots. the race had pitted republican mark harris against democrat dan mccready. harris initially appeared to be the narrow winner, but the race was never certified. for months harris, who is a baptist preacher, had insisted

his campaign did nothing illegal. but on thursday, he called for a new election. this came a day afafter harris' own son testified that he had warned his father about hiring a longtime political operative who had a record of illegally collecting absentee ballots and in some cases filling them out in favor of republican candidates. north carolina's democratic govevernor roy cooper praised te board's decision saying it "sends a strtrong messagage that election fraud must not be tolerated." president trump, who reputedly was warned about democrats still in elections, has yet to comment on the latest news from north carolina. the teacher strike in oakland, california, has entetered its second day. on thursday, some 3000 oakland teachers launched the strike demanding fair wages, smaller class sizes, and more resources for their students. jake seltzer is a teacher at metwest high school. students,ghting for

the students in oakland and teachers as well. we are fighting to make sure public schools are sustainable. we are fighting so teachers can have a living wage and can stay in the city. teacher pay is not in conjunction with the cost of living. i have taught in other places. we are fighting for smaller class sizes for students. amy: calls are growing for labor secretary alexander acosta to resign after a federal judge ruled thursday that acosta broke the law in 2008 while working as a federal prosecutor for his role in securing a controversial plea deal for billionaire serial sexual abuser jeffrey epstein. the deal allowed epstein to avoid a federal trial and possible life in prison, and effectively ended an fbi probe into the case, which alleged epstein sexually abused and trafficked more than 30 underage girls. the plea deal was then sealed in violation of the crime victims' rights act.

a recent "miami herald" investigation described the deal as "one of the most lenient deals for a serial child sex offender in history." the deal also gave immunity to epstein's co-conspirators. epstein was known to socialize with many prominent figures, including bill clinton and donald trump. in news on venezuela, the state department has announced trump's special envoy elliott abrams is traveling by military aircraft to the colombian border as a standoff intensifies on the venezuelan bordeder. the state departmement says abrs will oversee the delivering of so-called humanitarian aid. thisis comes a as venezuelela's seself-proclaimed president juan guaido is insisting he will lead a series of caravans across the border saturday, but venezuelan president nicolas maduro has rejected the eight efforts saying it is part of a broader plan to overthrow his regime. maduro has already ordered the

closing of venezuela's border with brazil and is considering the closure of its border with colombia. the united nations, the red cross, and other relief organizations have refused to work with the u.s. on delivering aid to venezuela, which they say is politically m motivat. meanwhile, in washington, d.c., medea benjamin, the co-founder of the peace group code pink, disrupted an event in washington, d.c., where guaido's envoy to the united states spoke. >> just asas you are trying to take over the venezuelan government, i want to say these people are a fraud. they do not represent the venezuelan people. they are representing the u.s.-or strict -- u.s.-orchestrated coup. this is a veryry dangerous situation. they want to create a crisis at the order that would be a justification for u.s. intervention. this has nothing to do with a

humanitarian situation. amy: in news from the middle east, the white hohouse has announced it will keep 200 troops in syria. this comomes just two months afr trump vowed to withdraw all 2000 u.s. troopops in syria. the latest move was anannounced after president trump spoke with turkish president recep tayyip erdogan. at the vatican, a historic summit on clerical sex abuse has entered its second day. on thursday, pope francis called on bishops to "listen to the screams of the little ones asking for justice." the summit takes place just days after the pope defrocked u.s. cardinal theodore mccarrick after the vatican found him guilty of sex crimes against children and adults. mccarrick was once considered the powerful catholic leader in the united states. on thursday, the archbishop of manila spoke at the vatican summit. >> our lack of resesponse to the suffering of victims, even to

the point of rejecting them in covering up the scandal to protect perpetrators in the institution, has injured our people, leaving a deep wound in our relationship with those we are sent to serve. amy: meanwhile, survivors of clerical abuse have been holding their own gatherings in rome. this is tim lelennon, presidentf snap, the survivors network of those abused by priests. >> i was raped and abused by my parish priest when i was 12 years old. .t the time, i froze i did not sayay anything. did not dodo anything.g. i wawas moleststed for several months and violently raped. i very the memories for 30 years -- or some memories -- and it was only when other survivors, other advocates stood in front "thereurch and said,

should be no m more clergy abus" and i said, "that h happened d o me." that was the first realization of my abuse. yes, this happened to me as well. amy: more information has come to light about the white nationalist coast guard lieutenant who plotted to carry out a domestic terrorist attack. investigators say christopher paul hasson used his work computer at the coast guard to plan his attack. during the work time, he read the manifestos of other mass killers and studied about how to carry out sniper attacks. atat the timime of his arrest, e had developed a hit list of prominent politicians and journalists and had stockpiled 15 guns and more than 1000 rounds of ammunition. robert hurt is u.s. attorney for the districtct of maryland. >> the weapons recovered from his residence in this case, coupled with the disturbing nature of his writings, appeared to reflect a significant threat to the safety of our community, particularly given the positionn

of trust h he held with t the ud states government. amy: the southern poverty lalaw centnter is reporting the number of hate groups in the united states has reached a record high of just over 1000. the group says the number of hate groups has jumped by 30% since donald trump launched his presidential campaign in 2015. in news from arizona, federal prosecutors have dropped criminal charges against four members of the humanitarian group no more deaths. the volunteers were arrested after searching for three migrants missing in the sonora desert. but the activists have each been ordered to pay a fine of $250. this comes a mononth after f for other members of the group were found guilty on charges related to their efforts to leave water and food in the harsh sonora desert to help refugees and migrants survive the deadly journey across the u.s. border. they face six months in prison. a ninth member of the group,

scott warren, is still awaiting trial on misdemeanor charges and felony charges. president trump's longtime advisor roger stone has been barred from speaking to the media by a judge after he posted an instagram photo on monday depicting the judge with crosshairs next to her head. the judge, amy berman jackson, also barred associates of stone from speaking to the media on his behalf. stone was indicted last month as part of special counsel robert mueller's investigation. he pleaded not guilty to lying to congress, witness tampering and obstruction. new government data shows u.s. banks made $28 billion in additional profit last year thanks to president trump's tax code. all told u.s. banks made a , record $237 billion in 2018. according to "the wall street journal," 2018 would have been a record-setting year for banks

even without the additional boost from the tax bill. meanwhile, the irs reports the average tax refund for individual taxpayers has shrunk nearly 9% thanks to trump's tax code. the pharmaceutical firm catalyst is defending its decision to charge $375,000 a year for a drug that used to be available for free. the drug, firdapse, is used as a medication for a rare neuromuscular disease. the price of the drug skyrocketed after catalyst bought the rights to it from another pharmaceutical company which offered the drug for free through the fda. presidential candidate senator bernie sanders recently criticized the company accusing , it of immorally exploiting patients who need the medication. in spain, thousands of protesters rallied in the northeastern region of the country thursday calling for the release of 12 secessionist catalan leaders who are on trial on charges of rebellion.

in barcelonana more than 13,000 , people took to the streets. nobody should be judged for their political ideology in a democracy. i think it is unacceptable the government keeps going on about the constitution and does not allow these people to be free. that is why i am here. amy: at the trial, catalan leaders have denied the charges against them, which stem from the 2017 independence referendum and the catalan parliament's declaration of independence. jordi sanchez is the former president of thehe catalan national assembly. >> i consider myself a political prisoner and i believe this is a political trial. i believe it is my obligation as a citizizen whoho wants to tetee truth in a court that presents itself as s being a partial to prove this innocence. and i am convinced that everything i'm accused of by the prosecution is absolutely false. amy: in other news from latin america, nicaraguan president daniel ortega has vowed to

reopen talks with political opponents for the first time in seven months. the umbrella opposition group civil alliance for justice said it will take part in the talk. the group said a key demand will be the release of hundreds of government critics who have been jailed over the past year. meanwhile, a nicaraguan farm leader who helped organize protests against ortega last year has been sentenced to 215 years in prison. medardo mairena was convicted in december of terrorism, murder and organized crime. and haitian human rights groups are criticizing ththe haitian government for letting five americans leave e the country before they were scheduled to go to court for possessing illegal weapons. two of the americans are former navy seal offificers. one isis a former employee of te mercenary firm blackwater. they were arresteded on february 17. cnn rereports the men were found to be in possession of six pistols, six automatatic rifles, two drdrones, fiveve ballistic vests, three satellite phones, a telescope, and several license

plates. this comes amidst days of antigovevernment protests in haiti. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we begin today's show in venezuela, where a standoff is escalating as opposition leader and self-proclaimed president juan guaido claims he is preparing to deliver aid into the country from the colombian border saturday. venezuelan president nicolas maduro has rejected the plan saying me effort is part of a broader attempt to overthrow his regime. this comes as trump's s speciall envoy to venezuela and right-wing hawk elliott abrams isis leading a u.s. delegation traveling by military aircraft the colombian-venezuela border supposedly to help deliver the , aid. it's s been one month since the u.s. recognized guaido as venezuela's new president in an attempt to oust maduro from power. since then, it has placed

sweeping sanctions on venezuela's state-run oil company and rejected calls for an international dialogue to resolve the crisis. the get under nations, the red cross, and -- the united nations, the red cross, and other relief organizations have refused to work with the u.s. on delivering that aid to venezuela, which they say is politically motivated. this is venezuelan o oppositionn leaderer juan guaidodo speakingo fofox businessss. >> w will have a a fantasticic opportunity saturday to accept import humanitarian aid that the government in venezuela has for bitten. and we have fantastic example to pull our country out of this crisis. amy: on thursday, venezuelan president nicolas maduro announced plans to close the border with brazil and possibly , also with colombia, ahead of the venezuelan opposition's plans to bring in huhumanitarian aid dedespite his objection.

>> starting at 8:00 p.m. today, landday, february 21, the border with brazil will be completely and absolutely closed until further notice. it is better to prevent than regret. to take all of the measures, assurance and protection of our people. i am considering a complete closure of the border with colby up most of the prepared man is worth two. a prayer people -- a prepared people's work too. amy: tonight, the venezuela-colombia border will be the site of dueling concerts, one organized by the british billionaire richard branson, the other by the venezuelan government. this comes as u.s. vice president mike pence is scheduled to visit colombia on monday to demand president maduro step down. pence will deliver remarks to the lima group. mexico is the only country in the group of 14 nations that has refused to recognize juan guaido as venezuela's new president. meanwhile in washington, d.c., memedea benjamin, the cofounderf the peace group code pink,

disrupted an event where guaido 's envoy to the united states spoke. excuse me. to take overeturn the venezuelan government, i want to say these people are a fraud. they do not represent the venezuelan people. they are representing the u.s.-orchestrated coup. this is a very dangerous situation. they want to create a crisis at the border that would be a justification for u.s. intervention. this has nothing to do with a humanitarian situation. indeed, for a humanitarian situation, the u.s. would live the economic sanctions that have exexacerbated the crisis. the issue at the border now i is something that is politicizing humanitarian aid. that is why the red cross, the

united nations, and all of the legitimate humanitarian groups have insisted that they will not touch this aid. what we need now is negotiations. want to takehere venezuela to a path of civil war and u.s. intervention. what the v venezuelan n people d is negotiationss medediated by mexico -- i am almost finished , by theted by mexico uruguayans, and the vatican. so let's s say that if you inded care about the peoplple of venezuela, you will be calling for negotiations. you will not recognize these people who are willing pawns in a trump-orchestrated coup d'etat. thank you for listening to the voice of reason. amy: that was medea benjamin interrupting the business with a news conference in washington,

d.c. for r re, we go o to caracas, venezuela, where we're joined by edgardo lander, a sociologist who is part of the citizen's platform in defense of the constitution. he is a retired professor at the central university of venezuela. because it is in caracas, there is a long audio delay, so please bear with us. edgardo lander, welcome to democracy now! the situationbe in the country right now and the effect of the pressure on the border? >> good morning, amy. glad to be with you. the situation in venezuela right now is quite tense. the 23rd, saturday, when a so-called humanitarian aid is supposed to come into the country according to guaido's people no matter what, we have very serious threats to venezuela met a very serious

threat in terms of violence. this is certainly not humanitarian aid, it is humanitarian intervention. if the united states were very serious in democracy, the government, of course, were interested in democracy and human rights and the inanitarian situation venezuela, the first thing they would have to do is stop the blockade that is impacting the venezuelan people in or missile he is the venezuelan government in extreme difficulties gaining access to foreign markets. its trade is made extremely difficult because the whole financial system is, in one way or another, controlled by the united states in this blockade limits the possibility to access trade partners, etc. on the other hand, enormous amounts of money, billions of

assets,in venezuelan has been taken over by the u.s. government. it is cynical u.s. government is theming to be worried about humanitarian situation in venezuela, offering a few million dollars wind billions of dollars are being kept away from the venezuelan government's capacity to respond to the deep crisis venezuelans are facing. there is this threat of going into venezuela no matter what. those that accompany trump and his policies are well-known. orse are people like abram bolton that have had well-known predatory military interventions in different p places of t world

. obviously, there's no concern whatsoever for the lives of the venezuelan people. the situation is so tense that the 23rd c could be the spark tt starts the violet, even civil war situation, in the country. to find someneed sort of solution, some sort of negotiation that would stop this escalation of violence is absolutely critical. and this has to be done soon because saturday is a very critical day. abouto if you can talk the role of venezuelans themselves in negotiating a solution? the possibility, the calls for the pope to be involved -- the pope is originally from argentina. the pope to be involved, mexico to be involved with the new president amlo. and what about the people

themselves in venezuela? your group -- what is citizen's platform calling for? ine citizen's platform defense of the constitution is calling for a referendum that has been established in the venezuelan constitution with issues of critical national importance have to be faced. this is a situation where we face a deep constitutional crisis. we have a struggle between the national assembly on one hand and the executive on the other hand. they don't recognize each other as legitimate. as a consequence, there is this talk in which politics is seen a confrontation in which the purpose of policy is to destroy the enemy and completely squash

it. hand is no will on either to enter into some sort of agreement that would allow for the venezuelan people to decide what they want the future to be. the citizen's platform, as well as other groups -- mainly from the left, but not only -- have been arguing we need this referendum in order to have the venezuelan people decide if they want to have new authorities over all in the country. that is all the national powers, including the executive and the national assembly. but that requires an agreement because we need a new national electoral council. the current electoral council is completely controlled by the government, and it is not

trustworthy for the majority of the venezuelan population. so we would need, the first of, some basic agreement. a consensual counsel, and then this call for the referendum in which the venezuelan people can actually give their own opinion and decide whether they want to keep the present authorities or if they want to completely redo the political system -- not the structure of the system, but who is the president. as it is right now, the national assembly is calling for the need for presidential elections. and on the other hand, president maduro is calling for the need for new parliamentary elections. so none of the sides will reach an agreement. we would, of course, need some by someaccompaniment international actors. and as you mentioned, the

possibilities of having the presidents of berg way, mexico, maybe the secretary-general of the united nations, and the pope, will be extremely critical in terms of the possibility of reaching such an agreement. so this requires two things. on the one hand, pressure and involvement by the people who are not interested in a violence but try to avoid civil war, and this has been a statement of berg way, mexico, the pope. in on the other hand, pressure from the venezuelan people to have this minimal agreement for a new electoral council and the referendum that would let people decide. there are reasons why there is huge, massive discontent in venezuela in relation to the maduro government. the crisis the venezuelan people are facing are, to a great

extent, the possibility of this government that has been extremely corrupt, inefficient, and has become increasingly repressive. justifies the way u.s. military intervention or this attempt to strangle the venezuelan economy, which is doing much harm to the venezuelan people than to the venezuelan government. where today iion would say a majority of people in venezuela reject the maduro government and on the other hand, a great many people deal also reject u.s. intervention. that opensegotiation the way for venezuelans to decide by themselves. and this is the option of both the negotiation with the international backing on one hand and the referendum we're calling for from the platform and other groups in venezuela that think the biggest threat

for venezuelans today is the threat of this escalation of violence, the possibility of a civil war, and the possibility that has been announced agagain anand again by military intervention by the united states government. amy: during his speech on monday, president trump called maduroro a "cuban puppet." theretrump: incredibly, are members of the venezuelan military still barely supporting this failed dictatorship. they are risking their future. they are risking their lives and venezuela's future for a man controlled by the cuban military and protected by a private army of cuban soldiers. is not a venezuelan patriot.

he is a cuban puppet. that is what he is. amy: during his speech on monday, trump laid out what he called a "ugly alliance" between cuba and venezuela. pres. trump: for decades, the socialistic dictatorships of cuba and venezuela have propped each other up in a very corrupt bargain. venezuela gave cuba oil. in return, cuba gave venezuela a police state run directly from a.ve been a -- havan daythis is a much different , and those days are over. the ugly alliance between the two dictatorships is coming to a rapid end. amy: that was president trump speaking in miami monday. a new book out this week by

former fbi deputy director andrew mccabe reveals trump privately discussed going to war with venezuela in 2017. mccabe writes -- "then the president talked about venezuela. that's the country we should be going to war with, he said. they have all that oil and they're right on our back door." so, edgardo lander, as you speak to us from caracas, can you respond to what exactly the u.s. is doing, who guaido is, and this issue of humanitarian aid -- the concerns of many? you have a plane that has been flying in back andnd forth warprplanes from a comompany in north carolina, apparently, about 40 flights. weapons were stashed, perhaps from one of those flights. it is a company that has previously worked with the cia. the fact that the united nations and the red cross have both said

they will not work on this so-calalled humanitarian aid because it is politically motivated anand that it is not humanitarian aid, what you think will be happening on the border with elliott abrams being flown in by military transport with his delegation to the colombia -venezuela border? and the significance of maduro closing the brazil-venezuela border and considering closing this order, the columbia -- colombia-venezuela border? place, i would like to say this is not humanitarian aid and it is not oriented with any humanitarian aids. this is clearly a coup carried out by the united states government with its allies, with the lima group, and the extreme

right wing venezuela. the opposition, the right-wing opposition of venezuela, the people who control parliament , havee opposition parties been weakened over the last few years. they have not been able to agree on any single policy in relation to ways to confront the maduro government will step but now this very extreme right wing has been in close quarter nation with the united states government for some time now. in this script that has been solowed since guaido proclaimed himself as president is a script that is basically a u.s. script. ,n this -- and this gripped there is no concern about the

situation of the venezuelan population because as i said before, if you take away billions from the capacity of the government in venezuela to respond to the needs for medicine and food on one hand and you offer a few million dollars in food and medicine on the colombian border am a there is no proportion whatsoever and it is clear the purpose is not to respond to the situation of the venezuelan population but to create a conflict on the border. as people have been called by and hisdo -- by guaido people to concentrate at the border, and this concert has been organized on the colombian side of the government, this could lead to a confrontation between the two sides. the venezuelan government has

announced it might close the border. it is now been decided yet. at the possibility of closing the border means that as it is now, venezuela military presence on the side of the border and there is obviously parliamentary groups, ca representatives, members of the armed forces of colombia on the other side. .nd anything could spark the violence that could lead to the beginning of a confrontation. i don't think that saturday will be d-day and which the great --versation will start, but confrontation will start, but it could be the spark that the groups need to increase violence in the possibility of a possible war. this have to confront supposedly can military and aid, which is not humanitarian aid. it is just direct intervention in order to have regime change, which has been the purpose of

the trump government from the very beginning. what regime change has meant in other places. we know the experience of regime change in libya and iraq and we know what the people in syria are facing today as a consequence of this imperial attempts to have regime change. so there is no possibility that this so-called humanitarian aid will make any positive contribution to the venezuelan situation. it is just going to make it worse. because it is deepening the crisis in terms of medicine and food for the venezuelan people on one hand, it is increasing the likelihood of an escalation and opening up the doors to the possibility of a civil war. so the need for some sort of

negotiation for putting a stop to this escalation and to put the blame on one hand on maduro's responsibility for having throughout this six years of government created such an incredible collapse of venezuela and the economy -- today, the economy is half of what it used to be when maduro came to power. and this is basically the government's responsibility. u.s. sanctions against venezuela, trump's sanctions against venezuela, started a year and a half ago around mid 2017. but the crisis came from way before. u.s. sanctions had deepened the crisis, but they are not the major cause of the crisis. the main cause of the crisis is ineptitude and massive corruption by the maduro government. so we and venezuela are faced

with these two evils, with these confronting enemies that have the venezuelan people in between and for their own aptitude for their own violence, for their own political purpose -- which are not the purposes of the venezuelan population. we need to have some sort of pressure on the u.s. government to stop this level of , this threat of military intervention. and we have to call the maduro government to be willing to open up the negotiations becauause ththere are a lot of reasons why people in venezuela don't really fort maduro when he calls negotiations because he always says the same thing. always carriede out, they are negotiations in which he is not been willing to do anything. he has to be willing to concede

on one basic issue. amy: edgardo lander, i want to thank you for being with us. sociologists begin to us from caracas, venezuela. part of the citizen's platform in defense of the constitution. retired professor at the central university of venezuela. this is democracy now! when we come back, "the green book: guide to freedom." stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the academy awards take place of the top contenders for the sunday. oscar for best picture, supporting actress, screenplay, editing is the movie "green book." the film is inspired by the true story of a tour of the deep south by the african-american

classical and jazz pianist don shirley, played by mahershala ali, and his driver, tony vallelonga, played by viggo mortensen. the movie has renewed interest in the history of "the negro motorist green book," and today we look at a remarkable new documentary that offers a real look the history of a travel guide that helped african americans safely navigate jim crow america. it details the violence, insults and the discrimination black travelers faced on the road, as well as the pride and sense of community they felt in the safe spaces they created around the country in the form of restaurants, hotels, and vacation retreats. the film is called "the green book: guide to freedom." this is the e trailer. >> very bathings happen to african-americans going down a dark country road. a sense of apprehension. you could actually be lynchehed. >> the green book was a way to understand how you could get from a to b safely.

that becameme a roadmap. >> igo's state-by-state. the mostme of the music political milestones of the 20th century. >> owning an automobile was a bideal. > it meant you had arrived. >> regular people populating something called the mdlee class? >> there were all cacaps of businesses listed. very telling in terms of how many areas of black people were shut out of. >> it uncovered hidden truths about the african-american community. it allows us to embrace the geniusus of us. green new grow travelers book. >> the guide to travel and vacation. >> travel wise people carry a green book with you. >> you may need it. amy: that's the trailer for "the green book: guide to freedom," which premieres monday on the smithsonian channel. for more, we're joined in our new york studio by its writer .nd director yoruba richen

she happens to be a former democracy now! producer. it is great to have you back here. congratulations on this film. talk about the history and what inspired you to do this film. >> so let's see, there is much history within the pages of "the green book." it was created and first published in 1936 by a man named victor hugo green. he was a postal worker based in harlem. he had the idea for the book because of a jewish friend of ,is had a guide the catskills for jewish families were they could go in the catskills. he looked at that and said, hey, this would be a great i idea. this is somemething the black community needs. he also had -- was married to a woman named alma who lived in virginia and they would travel down to virginia.

he experienced all the things that african-americans experienced at that time in terms of traveling. so he created the green. amy: you narrate the film. i want to go back to the film as you describe and show this history of "the green book." >> victor green was a postal worker from harlem, new york, one of the fastest-growing african-american community's in the country. neighborhoodis own , african-americans were not welclcome at many hotels andnd h establishmhments. clulub, or topon five entertatainers like lena warned and duke ellington, packed the house every night, blacks were not allowed to sit in the audience. in 1936, green created and published the first he wrote motorist green book, which listed businesses where black

customers were welcome. of the green book is to give the new grow travelers information that will keep him ,rom running into difficulties embarrassments, and to make his trips more enjoyable. only listing out locations in new york from a mainly in harlem. two of the most prominent or the hotel theresa and the ymca, which served as one of harlem's most important recreational and cultural centers. during the 1930's, dancers from the cotton club rehearsed at the ymca. and manyny famous luminaries suh as langston hughes and joe lewis stayed there. but the green book was soon out pro-harlem. and by the time it into publication, and become more than just a travel guide. it have become a roadmap to some of the most significant people

come a successful businesses, and most important political milestones of ththe 20th centur. >> it is important to have evereryone in this nation examie the sisignificance of f the gren book. if you don't see the history, if you don't see where it was, how can you say it happened? eventually, the green book would list more than 9500 places between its pages. today, only y about onththird those sites are still standing. >> we need to find those places and we need to see them and we need to revere what they meant because they made all the difference to our survival. >> carry your green book with you. you may need it. amy: an excerpt of the smithsonian's new documentary "the green book: guide to freedom our guest is yoruba

richen, the film maker who made this documentary. "you may need it." this was not just about where to go to have fun, this is where you could go to ensure you would survive. >> absolutely. traveling during that time for african-americans was, to say the least, a dangerous proposition. not only was the segregation in the south, places were african-americans obviously were not allowed to go to sleep, but also the north and the west. there is this mythology that racism and severed nation is confined -- segregation is confined to the south. that is not true. the north and west have the majority of what we call sun downtown's, places were african-americans had to get out, had to leave. a bill might be wrong for afafrican-americans to leave the

town. they w were not welcome. there's the potential f for violence. amy: in the daytime, they could work. >> yes, then they had to leave. amy: that was also referenced in the hollywood film "green book," which has been criticized for various reasons, the prospective it was told from, the white driver son, based on his book and not consulting don shirley's family, this remarkable jazzical an and pianist. yet the sense of violence he faced and his going to -- well, talk about in the hollywood film, the places he went to versus, welcome all of the places that are documented in "the green book." >> that was one of the most frustrating parts for me and for many people, watching the hollywood film is that the film is called "the green book" and the green book is only a small

part of the film, but the places that they went to were really not nice places. dumps.re -- on amy: >> yes. that is not what was in "the green book." ait had over 9500 listings over period of 95 something years. when of those p places, the fint motel.w -- negro amy: we were just in birmingham this weekend. the gas and hotel not far from the birmingham civil rights in the chewed and there were talking about now renovating it in preserving it. >> absolutely. it is exciting. the other thing the film did was that the driver and dr. shirley only used the book in the south. so when they were in the north and the west, you did not see them using the book will stuff it when they get to the south is when they use the book. as i said before, that is not true. these listings were all over because african-americans had to navigate the d dangerous roads l

over the country. amy: would we come back from break, we're going to talk about some of these places like idlewild and also the role of esso, the oil company. yoruba richen is the writerer ad director of "the green book: guide to freedom," which will be premiering on the smithsonian channel on sunday. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we're talking about the new documentary "the green book: guide to freedom," which will premiere monday on smithsonian channel. i want to go to another clipip. >> one black resort in northwest michigan would become legenenda. idlewild. lawyer i ins a detroit. he purchased land when i was seven and built his house. so i have been here since i was seven years old. and now i will be 78. this was a place that you are justto bike,e, swim, free to visit withth each other and hava wonderful time.

ridide every morning. comeme home and have lunch, , tn go to the beaeach in the afternoooon. yoyou make your friends. you played cards. you swim. and you had fun for the afternoonn until the 6:6:00 whistle, then you hahad to come home. during its heyday in the 1960's, while the was one of the largest resort communities in the midwest. the beating heart of its booming that left was the flamingo club, owned by developer giles. >> first it was a bar and a patio, then he added the club on it. then it t became the flamingo club. idlewild ony put the map. .t was nothing but people

nothing but people. senators, popolitical pepeople - everybybody cacame to ididlewil. i am 81 years old. those were my mentors.. the ladies were so glamorous and dressed so glamorous and the men were to die for. this place was so full all the time. space,uld run out of accommodations, nothing left. they would take their baths in the late and dress out of their cars. world-famous entertainers performed at the resort. among them, lou armstrong and dinah washington. on theing and jamming inside. i was a waitress.

when i carried her change, s she gave me $100 bill. she told me to keep the change. amy: a clip from "the green book: guide to freedom" premiering monday on smithsonian channel. idlewild, the significance, the dignity of it and how it stands today? >> i'm so happy you played that clip. that is one of my favorite parts of the film that we got to show this community -- and there are many like it all over the country -- were ,frican-americans created developed this community for themselves to have vacation and relax in safety. a safe haven. that is what everyone said whehn we went up and filled. amy: let's be clear, this is the north. >> this is in northwest michigan, upper michigan. such a beautiful place. the history is amazing. 1910evelopment started in

by one of the first african-american heart surgeons at university of chicago. these people had been there for generations. they have such pride in their community. at its heyday am a at one point the biggest resort in the midwest black or white. and today, the heyday -- not the heyday it was, but folks are lens, to develop the redevelop the buildings, encourage people to come back. there are even there. as one of the subjects says in rich,lm, the soil was so you really feel it when you're there. amy: and you're going to have a showing in detroit. >> we are screening in detroit on monday night, the night of the broadcast. we have some of the from idlewild who will be on our panel, who is in the clip. amy: i want to turn to the 1949 edition of "the negro motorist green book." on the cover it says, "carry your green book with you -- you

may need it." and under that is a quote by mark twain, "travel is fatal to prejudice." inside, on page three, just after the introduction, is a column by wendell p. alston, a special representative of the esso standard oil co., titled "the green book helps solve your travel problems." alston writes -- "the negro traveler's inconveniences are many and they are increasing because today so many more are traveling, individually and in groups." on the next page is a picture of alston along with james a. jackson, with the caption -- "special representatives of the esso marketers in their new york office." talk about the role of esso and these two african-american men in "the green book." >> that was one of the most interesting discoveries that we had in making this film. esso gas station, which was owned by standard oil which was owned by rockefeller, had a very early program to promote to african-americans. not only that, but to hire african-americans -- african-american scientists and

chemist's. he was married to a woman whose lasting was spellman. they come from a long line of abolitionists. spellman college, hb see you in atatlanta was created by the family. so there was a history of this corporate the human working with the african-american community and they distributed the green esso gastheir stations. that is one of the ways the green book was able to be so widely distributed and popular. amy: you also talk about the women entrepreneurs. >> absolutely. the stories we were finding and that we were coming upon, so many of them were women-owned businesses. at one point, i start looking to the pages of "the green book." they are all online so anybody can look and look up their town to see what is listed. but there are all of these

pictures of women owners, women business owners. they sent in their picture. they were advertising in it. everything from restaurants and motels and hotels. black women entrepreneurship is something that is a part of our experience and a part of our history. amy: are you astounded thahat yu had heard nothing about "the green book" when you were asked to do this documentary? >> it was divine timing. it is amazing. what i am also very y excited about is that the fiction film has given visibility to this piece. and hopefully, their interest will be piqued by the fiction film the matter what happens on sunday night, and then they will come and watch this documentary. amy: the oscars are sunday night book:r film "the green guide to freedom" will premiere on monday. yoruba richen is the writer and director of the film the documentary program in the , newmark graduate school of journalism at cuny.

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>> so many places to go and so many ways to get there. sometimes there are too many choices. how do we count all those things and then organize them so that we can make sense of it all?